Macready’s Hamlet

From the Louisville Daily Courier, April 17, 1849

Mr. Macready’s great reputation drew a crowded house to the Theatre last night. We have rarely ever seen a finer house upon any occasion, and the great tragedian held his auditory completely enchained throughout Shakespeare’s great masterpiece – Hamlet.

In all that pertains to stage effect, to the graces of attitude, gesture, action and movement, Mr. Macready is a perfect master. The great points of the play are admirably brought out by the great tragedian, and his Hamlet is almost faultless in its conception. It is difficult to institute a comparison between Mr. Macready and any other Hamlet, for he has a style of his own, and in portions of it he is unapproachable. His enunciation is not as clear, ringing and musical as Murdoch’s, his voice is not susceptible of anything like such modulation as Murdoch’s ,and many beautiful passages were somewhat marred by this defect.

But the performance was a great one, it was worthy of Shakespeare’s noblest inspiration, and Macready’s great reputation.